Conservative Partnership Institute

CPI's IRS Form 990 filings (EIN 82-1470217) document a revenue trajectory that accelerated sharply following the 2020 election. Annual revenue rose from $1.79 million in 2017 to $6.2 million in 2020, then jumped to $45.7 million in 2021 before moderating to $36.4 million in 2022, $19.5 million in 2023, and rebounding to $34.5 million in 2024. Total assets grew from $852,000 in 2017 to $72.3 million by 2024 ¹.

The 2021 revenue spike is attributable to highly concentrated anonymous giving. CPI's Schedule B for that year records a single anonymous individual contributing $25.7 million (55 percent of total revenue) and at least six other anonymous individuals each giving $1 million or more. Named donors in 2021 included the Trump Save America PAC at $1 million (dated July 26, 2021) and DonorsTrust at $1.3 million, with the DonorsTrust grant carrying earmarks of $200,000 for American Moment and $10,000 for the Election Integrity Network. Earlier disclosed donors include the Richard Uihlein foundation at $1.25 million in 2020 and the Stanley E. Fulton private foundation at $500,000. Because CPI files as a 501(c)(3), its Schedule B donor names are submitted to the IRS but are not publicly disclosed ².

Investigative reporting compiled across IRS 990 filings for Marble Freedom Trust, DonorsTrust, the 85 Fund, and CPI traces a layered funding chain: Barre Seid transferred approximately $1.6 billion to Marble Freedom Trust in 2021 via a Tripp Lite share transfer. Marble Freedom Trust then granted $153.8 million to the 85 Fund in 2021 and $153.75 million in 2022, and $28.9 million to the Concord Fund in 2021 and $55.5 million in 2022. Separately, Marble Freedom Trust granted $59.1 million directly to DonorsTrust in 2020, and the 85 Fund transferred $92 million to DonorsTrust in 2022. DonorsTrust in turn granted $1.3 million to CPI in 2021. Analysis of these filings indicates that total documented flows from the Seid donation through final grantees exceed $100 million across the cluster of organizations sharing CPI's address and network ³. This estimate draws on multiple 990 filings and is rated medium confidence by the investigation.

On the grant-making side, CPI's Schedule I disbursements show a consistent pattern of funding affiliated organizations. In 2021, CPI granted $3.9 million across eight recipients: America First Legal Foundation received $1.33 million; the American Voting Rights Foundation / Center for American Restoration received $1 million; Center for Renewing America received $583,701; American Moment received $336,000; the American Accountability Foundation received $335,000 or more; the American Cornerstone Institute received $161,000; the Institute for Citizen Focused Service received $100,000; and the Public Interest Legal Foundation received $50,000 ⁵. In 2022, total expenses reached $23.4 million, with the Center for Renewing America confirmed at $1.35 million and 11 total Schedule I awards ⁶. In 2023, the top four identified grantees were Personnel Policy Operations at $880,005, the FAIR Elections Fund at $795,000, the State Freedom Caucus Foundation at $568,500, and the Virginia Institute for Public Policy at $330,000, for a total of approximately $3 million across 11 awards ⁷. In 2024, total grants jumped to $8.45 million across 12 awards, nearly triple the 2023 level, against revenue of $34.5 million ⁸.

CPI's most documented organizational relationship is with America First Legal Foundation. CPI incubated AFL, the two organizations shared an address at 611 Pennsylvania Ave SE, and three CPI officers — Mark Meadows (CPI Senior Partner), Ed Corrigan (CPI President and CEO), and Wesley Denton (CPI Chief Operating Officer) — held seats on AFL's board ⁴. Russ Vought, who founded the Center for Renewing America as another CPI affiliate, also served as AFL board treasurer. AFL founder Stephen Miller returned to the White House as Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Homeland Security Advisor in January 2025, while AFL co-founder Gene Hamilton returned as senior White House counsel and Reed Rubinstein was nominated as State Department legal adviser.

The Center for Renewing America has overlapping board membership with CPI through Denton and Corrigan, and CRA files tax documents in care of CPI. CPI granted the Center for American Restoration (CRA's 501(c)(3) arm, EIN 854307005) $583,000 in 2021 and $1.35 million in 2022 ⁶. The Center for Renewing America served as the pre-government base for Russ Vought, who became OMB Director in February 2025; Jeffrey Clark, who became acting OIRA Administrator in March 2025 before resigning in March 2026; Kash Patel, who became FBI Director in February 2025; and Mark Paoletta, who became OMB General Counsel. Each held senior fellow or director positions at CRA prior to entering government ⁴.

Cleta Mitchell runs CPI's Election Integrity Network and founded the Foundation for Accountability, Integrity and Research in Elections (FAIR Elections Fund, EIN 931870447), which is registered at 300 Independence Ave SE. CPI granted FAIR $795,000 in 2023 ⁹. FAIR raised $3.9 million in its first full operating year (July 2023–June 2024), and more than 75 percent of its $2.1 million in expenses flowed as grants to other organizations. According to CMD reporting, the CPI $795,000 grant is the only documented external funding source for FAIR ⁹. Mitchell's Election Integrity Network co-hosted summits with the Republican National Committee and attracted sponsorship from the Heritage Foundation, with 20 or more EIN coalition members involved in Project 2025. According to CMD, Heather Honey served as FAIR's vice president alongside Mitchell as president, and subsequently moved into a DHS election integrity role.

CPI also housed Citizens for Sanity (president Gene Hamilton, also AFL vice president), which raised $93 million in 2022 and spent nearly all of it on advertising ahead of the midterm elections, with FlexPoint Media receiving $62 million or more of the $90 million ad spend. DonorsTrust, the primary named institutional funder of CPI in 2021, also distributed $21.3 million to AFL in 2024, $4.4 million to the America First Policy Institute in 2024, and $4.4 million to Teneo in 2024. Analysis of grant flow data across multiple 990 filings indicates that the same funding infrastructure channels resources across multiple organizations in the network ³.

IRS Form 990 filings for each listed organization confirm that ten or more distinct nonprofit entities share CPI's registered address at 300 Independence Ave SE, Washington, D.C. 20003-1021: Conservative Partnership Institute (EIN 82-1470217), the Center for American Restoration (EIN 854307005), Citizens for Renewing America c4 (EIN 861769922), the American Accountability Foundation (EIN 854391204), Personnel Policy Operations (EIN 881773001), the State Freedom Caucus Foundation (EIN 883060056), the State Freedom Caucus Network c4 (EIN 873648308), American Moment (EIN 851875789), the Election Integrity Network (EIN 332585603), and the FAIR Elections Fund (EIN 931870447) ⁴. This shared registration reduces individual organizational overhead and allows rapid formation of new entities under existing administrative infrastructure.

The Personnel Policy Operations organization (PPO, EIN 881773001) received $880,005 from CPI in 2023, the largest single grant in CPI's Schedule I that year ⁷. Based on available 990 data and investigative reporting, PPO's stated function involves personnel placement and tracking for conservative movement candidates entering government — consistent with CPI's publicly stated mission of training and placing conservative congressional staff and executive branch personnel. CPI's 2024 grant surge to $8.45 million — timed to the election cycle and the period preceding the January 2025 presidential inauguration — concentrated resources in this network during the transition period ⁸.